Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Responding to Central American Youth Gang Violence

The Central American refugee crisis has been aggravated by the Trump administration’s policies, but this administration certainly did not precipitate it. The first half of this article examines the determinant role US policy played—and continues to play—in the violence that has sent tens of thousands of refugees to the US-Mexico border, showing how Carl Schmitt’s friend-enemy distinction has repeatedly been used to represent Central Americans as the existential enemy. From Ronald Reagan through Bill Clinton, administrations crafted policies toward the Central American enemy, directly creating the gang violence in the Northern Triangle. This article considers if the cost of security for the US citizenship is borne by the insecurity of Central American citizenship. The second half of the article examines fictionalized accounts drawn from the testimonies of women held in detention at Dilley, Texas, the existential enemy par excellence of the Trump administration. The reasons for their flight elucidate the particular ways in which gang violence against them and their children is gendered, showing how heteropatriarchy is decisive in both Mara violence and ICE and Border Patrol response to that violence, as evidenced in the experience of these women and their families.

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Youth gang violence and preventative measures in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review (Part II)

10.23846/sr51117b ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Angela Higginson ◽

◽

Kathryn Benier ◽

Yulia Shenderovich ◽

Laura Bedford ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Gang Violence ◽

Youth Gang ◽

Middle Income ◽

Middle Income Countries ◽

Preventative Measures ◽

Low And Middle Income

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When Internal Migration Fails: A Case Study of Central American Youth Who Relocate Internally Before Leaving Their Countries

Journal on Migration and Human Security ◽

10.1177/23315024211042735 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 233150242110427

Author(s):

Angel Alfonso Escamilla García

Keyword(s):

Central America ◽

Internal Migration ◽

Home Country ◽

Participant Observation ◽

The United States ◽

Central American ◽

Executive Summary ◽

Labor Exploitation ◽

Central American Youth

Executive Summary This paper examines the experiences of Central American youth who have attempted internal relocation before migrating internationally. Based on interviews and participant observation with Guatemalan, Honduran, and Salvadoran youth migrating through Mexico, this paper shows how youth from the Northern Countries of Central America turn to their domestic networks to escape labor exploitation and gang violence before undertaking international journeys. The paper further demonstrates how those domestic networks lead youth into contexts of poverty and violence similar to those they seek to escape, making their internal relocation a disappointment. The failure of their internal relocation attempts makes them turn to international migrant networks as their next option. This paper sheds light on the underexplored issue of internal migration among Central American youth and that migration's synergy with Central American youths’ migration to the United States. The paper finds that internal relocation is unsuccessful when the internal destination fails to resolve the issues from which youth are attempting to escape. This failure ultimately triggers their departure from their home country.

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Violence Exposure and Drug Use in Central American Youth: Family Cohesion and Parental Monitoring as Protective Factors

Journal of Research on Adolescence ◽

10.1111/j.1532-7795.2006.00502.x ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 16 (3) ◽

pp. 455-478 ◽

Cited By ~ 48

Author(s):

Wendy Kliewer ◽

Lenn Murrelle ◽

Elizabeth Prom ◽

Melva Ramirez ◽

Patricia Obando ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Drug Use ◽

Protective Factors ◽

Parental Monitoring ◽

Violence Exposure ◽

Family Cohesion ◽

Central American ◽

Central American Youth

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In Hand, Out of Hand

Advances in Psychology, Mental Health, and Behavioral Studies - Global Perspectives on Youth Gang Behavior, Violence, and Weapons Use ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-9938-0.ch009 ◽

2016 ◽

pp. 174-190 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ami C. Carpenter

Keyword(s):

Mexican American ◽

Theoretical Framework ◽

Central American ◽

Gang Violence ◽

Conflict Studies ◽

Cultural Characteristics ◽

Violence Reduction ◽

Peace And Conflict Studies ◽

Peace And Conflict ◽

And Function

This chapter interrogates the nature and function of weapons in Latino gang culture, and is divided into three parts. It begins by defining Latino gangs in the Americas, and classifying them into Mexican-American gangs, Mexican gangs, and Central American gangs. Despite differences in region, economic situation, generations and cultural characteristics, I draw broad similarities by focusing specifically on large, organized gangs within each of the three classifications. The second section interrogates the logics and motivations driving gangs' use of weapons, along with the psychological and instrumental functions of weapons use for Latino gangs. The chapter's third section is a substantial conclusion which argues for approaches to gang-violence which derive from the field of peace and conflict studies, including short-term approaches to violence reduction (gang ceasefires and truces) and longer term, ecological approaches based on the theoretical framework of community resilience.

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